The objective of the survey: To better understand what Highlands Residents thoughts were post Sandy on our Borough’s processes for:

information flow

flood mitigation [borough and homeowner]

completion/timing/costs of flood, zoning and construction permits

code enforcement, schedule of fees for non-compliance

next steps to make Highlands more attractive to current and new residents and businesses

Who was surveyed: Highlands Residents 18 years old and older were eligible however only residents between 24 – 65+ participated. 41% were 25 – 44, 44% were 45 – 65, and 15% were over 65 years old.

Results of what Highlands Residents thought:

Single biggest Highlands issue: Flooding (81%) – shocker

Biggest Short Term Goal thought needed to be Addressed: “Help Highlands Residents raise their properties” (68%), in contrary, the one improvement that was significantly deemed “should not be considered” was “Raise the entire borough” (59%).

Highlands has “Satisfaction“

Most Highlanders reported they weremost satisfied with: Their Neighbors helping them when they were in need(87%), also props were given to Borough for the clean up immediately after the storm.(82%)

What Highlanders were LEAST satisfied with: “Information flow from borough officials and borough employees to residents & the Borough website ease of use and quality of information”

Top 3 News Sources for Highlands Happenings & Information Post Sandy:

Word of Mouth Highlands Blog (yay me) App.com

What Highlanders thought the two most important things the Borough of Highlands could do to help residents:

Better Leadership
Better Communication

Conclusion:

Highlands residents have a strong need for information and leadership in regard to how to move forward and what exactly their game plan should be since Sandy. They are looking to Borough officials and employees to guide them in this process.

Actually it was the town, they hired Branin who is a local guy for the clean up. (not sure how much we paid him, and if the cost/benefit was worth it..) however, it was done quickly and they did do a good job. But after that first month.. everything fell apart and nothing was handled well.